“I want to express my apology for the event that happened (Tuesday) night,” Lederman stated in court. “My family suffered the hardships of the Holocaust in Poland and I came to the embassy on the issue of restitution.”

His lawyer claimed the brouhaha had been “blown out of proportion” as the suspect had gone to the embassy to inquire about Jewish property abandoned after the Holocaust.

Justice Alaa Masarwe referred to the incident as a “road dispute,” not an assault. While Masarwe acknowledged spitting at a diplomatic official was contemptible, he noted Lederman wouldn’t have been arrested had it not been the Polish ambassador involved.

The defendant was sentenced to house arrest and a ban from the Polish embassy for two weeks.

A recent survey commissioned by the Polish Embassy found that 50% of Israelis harbor negative connotations regarding Poland.